Los Angeles residents Gabriel Montoya and Nikki Montoya are Knott’s Scary Farm superfans, who attend almost every night of the event.

“The reason why we go is we enjoy it so much because it’s so distinctly different than most haunts that are out there,” Gabriel Montoya said. “A lot of haunts just rely on the same-old same-old scares and there’s nothing really personal about it. A lot of the monsters are these characters that you come to know and really enjoy. They have their own personalities and you come and you watch them do what they do best.”

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Gabriel has been going to Scary Farm since 2003 and introduced his wife of one year, Nikki, to the event in 2013. The couple became superfans three years ago when Knott’s began offering a season pass for the Knott’s Halloween Haunt. They are also regular Knott’s Berry Farm season passholders.

“You see something new every time you go,” Nikki Montoya said. “There’s really no area in the park you can go where you’re not experiencing something. It’s pretty much encompassing the whole park and all of the scare actors that work there are so passionate about what they do, they love doing it and you can tell.”

Favorite spot

The Montoyas’ favorite attraction is the Ghost Town scare zone because it “feels real” rather than simply decorated for Halloween.

“I love how it’s filled with fog to the point where you can’t see anything, but all the monsters can see you and you know they can see you and that fear of being watched and knowing that you’re being watched is really overpowering sometimes,” Gabriel said.

He admits that despite his familiarity with the area he still gets nervous walking through it because he knows something will happen.

“Some of the times when we go to Scary Farm and we don’t have a plan of what we’re going to do we just sit in Ghost Town. We either get dinner and sit on the patio of the Ghost Town Grill or we just sit on a bench watch people getting scared. Sometimes we’re there for an hour and we don’t even realize it,” Nikki said.

The couple caution that eating dinner doesn’t mean you’re safe, as monsters often creep into the eatery to scare diners. Still nibbling a nice meal by candlelight is romantic, as is sharing an experience.

“It’s nice being with her and being in an environment that we know we’re having so much fun,” Gabriel said.

“It’s a very, very fun date night,” Nikki said.

Should kids go to Scary Farm?

The Montoyas don’t have children, but have already discussed how to handle Scary Farm if they do. They plan to slowly introduce them to the event by taking them to a convention that highlights it, such as Midsummer Scream, so they can see the monsters and learn about what happens there.

Although Knott’s recommends that Scary Farm may not be suitable for children under 13, Gabriel counters that it really depends on the child..

“I remember being in line for Infected, one of the attractions they have at Scary Farm, you get a gun, it’s almost like laser tag with zombies. The two girls left the dad behind and ran off excited about shooting zombies and they were 5 or 6. I want my kid to be like that,” Gabriel said.

He would be thrilled if he could share Scary Farm with his kids at age 7 or 8, but would never force them to go.

Gabriel has taken many people for their first visit to the Haunt and have watched them turn into big fans.

“I sit back and I smile looking at my friends being able to get scared and then look at me with a smile and say, ‘I love this.’ There’s no better feeling than to introduce somebody to something I love this much,” Gabriel said.

The Montoyas shared a few tips for getting the most out of Scary Farm: You should show up before the park opens so you can be among the first in the gate, hit the bigger mazes early and know what you want to do before you go or plan it out when you first arrive. Also, if you are going multiple nights, don’t try to do everything in one visit, take the time to walk around and take it all in.

“If you’re coming multiple nights, taking your time you can really enjoy the smaller aspects of the event that a lot of people who come for one night and try to rush to get everything done don’t get to see and don’t get to experience. You get to see the smaller things, which is really fun and really adds to the experience,” Gabriel said.

Michelle Mills has been an entertainment and features reporter for the Southern California News Group since 1999. She has interviewed such notables as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Glen Campbell, Alice Cooper, Debbie Allen, Ernest Borgnine (during an earthquake) and Adam Young (Owl City). She was the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade Queen reigning 2007-2009. She is a professional belly dancer (swordwork is her specialty) and also studies Polynesian and Tahitian dance.

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